


AN 

ACCOUNT 

OF THE ASSASSINATION OF 

LOYAL CITIZENS 



OF 



NORTH CAROLINA 

FOR 

HAVING SERVED IN THE UNION ARMY 

WHICH TOOK PLACE AT KINGSTON 

IN THE MONTHS 

OF FEBRUARY AND MARCH 1864 



BY 



RUSH C. HAV/KINS 



NEW YORK 

MDCCCLXXXXVII 




'J? '> ^) i\ 



^'"^ 



V>? 



EXPLANATORY. 

THE following account of an atrocious crime was written 
thirty-one years ago, at a time when all the incidental facts 
attending and preceding it were fresh in my mind. It would 
be diificult to state the exact why it was written. But prob- 
ably because there had to be a vent for an outward pressure 
of suppressed indignation which could not be controlled. An 
wanton and cruel assassination of twenty-two perfectly inno- 
cent men had been perpetrated, practically, by the order of 
an inhuman monster who had been placed beyond the reach of 
the power to punish, by the operation of an entirely unneces- 
sary compact, flowing from the final defeat of the rebel army. 
From no standpoint either of politics, policy or human- 
ity, could the terms, in their entirety, granted at the time of 
the surrender be defended. 

Holding myself, though unwittingly, responsible for 
placing these murdered victims in a position which caused 
them to be assassinated; indignant that their murderer, by an 
untoward blunder, had been placed beyond the reach of the 
infliction of a just punishment, my grief and chagrin knew no 
bounds. These feelings had burned within me until the 
oppression of silence was too much to bear, and under the 
full glow of feverish heat, this narrative was written; and 
now, thirty years and more since it was penned, I am not dis- 
posed to change a single word or phrase save in the interest of 
better expression. 

I believe to-day as I did thirty-two years ago, that 



General Grant's terms at Appomatox, were unnecessarily 
lenient and under the circumstances, uncalled for ; not in re- 
gard to the rank and file, but for including the leaders who 
were largely responsible for a perfectly causeless, useless and 
merciless (at least on one side) war. 

In 1870 Henry B. Dawson, a well known writer and 
publisher of out-of-the-way incidents relating to American 
history, had planned to publish a series of such incidents 
growing out of the rebellion. The copy now used was made 
for him, has remained unseen for upwards of a quarter of a 
century and is now permitted to come to the surface — because 
a friend of sound judgment who heard a part of it read, re- 
gards it as a contribution to history of sufficient importance 
to be preserved. 

R. C. H. 

New York, December i, 1897. 



Letter to Mr. Dawson. 

Henry B. Dawson, Esq., 

My Dear Sir : 

The accompanying paper relating to the execution 
of loyal North Carolina soldiers by the order of the rebel 
General Pickett, was written early in the year 1867, during 
the infamous administration of Andrew Johnson. Those who 
read it will naturally come to the conclusion that my feelings 
were strongly enlisted, and that some of my expressions are 
more remarkable for strength than either good taste or 
elegance. 

I have never been a convert to the policy of our Govern- 
ment, relating to the rebels after they were compelled to 
surrender. The consequence of their acts cost the National 
Government nearly seven billions of money, the States nearly 
as much more and entailed a loss to of about three hundred 
and fifty thousand of valuable lives ; besides grief, poverty 
and individual suffering which it is impossible to estimate; 
and yet, up to this time the men who brought about this 
great loss of life and untold misery to thousands of house- 
holds, have escaped all punishment, and a majority of them, 
no doubt, feel that they are at liberty as soon as they regain 
sufficient strength, to undertake another rebellion. 

I have yet to learn of any good results to the Nation, in 
consequence of this indiscriminate, senseless and unprecedent- 



K 



ed pardoning of rebels. On the contrary it has led them to be- 
lieve that our respect for their individual superiority and 
bravery, has caused us to sheath the sword of justice which 
should have fallen upon many of their necks ; nor have I been 
able to ascertain that there is any more liberty of speech, or 
protection for person or property in the rebel States to-day 
than there was in 1861. In many districts, I believe th^t the 
hatred against the Northern people is greater than ever, and 
the open expression of it more violent. If the truth of this 
statement in relation to present conditions in the South is 
admitted, then we may inquire what good has been accom- 
plished by the exercise of this uncalled-for and unusual 
clemency? 

Yours faithfully, 

Rush C. Hawkins. 
N. Y., November i, 1870. 



IN the month of February, 1862, I was placed by Gen'l 
Burnside in command at Roanoke Island, North Carolina. 
This gave me control of the towns on the Albemarle, Croatan 
and Carratuck Sounds, and also those on the Roanoke, Chow- 
an, Columbia, Hertford and Pasquotank Rivers. Lieut. -Com- 
mander Charles W. Flusser, U. S. Navy, originally from Mary- 
land, was left in command of the naval division in those waters. 
Soon after assuming control of my district, 1 ascertained that 
there were among the non-slaveholding population, many 
who professed sentiments of loyalty to the Union, and that 
they had expressed a determination never to serve in the ranks 
of the rebel army. In fact, so strong were their expressions 
of loyalty that Lieut. -Commander Flusser became deeply 
impressed with their truthfulness and sincerity, and con- 
stantly urged upon me the importance of enlisting these 
unionists in the cause of their country; and the more exten- 
sive his intercourse with them, the more he became convinced 
that nearly all of the non-slaveholding inhabitants of certain 
parts of my district were still devoted to the old Govern- 
ment. He found that many of them had successfully resisted 
rebel conscription, and had never given their allegiance to the 
rebel cause. Very few of them were interested in slavery, 
and consequently had no reason for aiding the rebellion. 
They worked in their fields in parties, with arms near at 



8 

hand, during the day, and at night resorted to the swamps for 
shelter against conscripting parties of rebel soldiers; and by 
thus constantly being on the alert succeeded in rendering un- 
availing all efforts of the rebels to force them into the ranks of 
their army. 

In several interviews which I had with Lieut. -Com- 
mander Flusser, he urged me to occupy the town of Plymouth, 
and to organize the Union men of that vicinity into a regi- 
ment of soldiers. In a letter to me of May 28, 1862, he said: 
"There is nothing new of interest except a very strong 
expression of Union sentiment. We will miss the golden 
opportunity if we do not promptly send small detachments of 
men to the towns on the Sound and arm the loyal people. 
They are eager to be enlisted, and we seem to be indifferent 
— apathetic." 

"It must be by the act of the people of a State that 
that State shall be brought back to its allegiance. Then it 
seems to me to be the part of wisdom to foster and encour- 
age the feeling, and expression of the feeling of loyalty 
whenever found, and to the utmost of our power." 

" If I had 350 or 400 muskets, with ammunition, I 
could soon find Union-loving men to take them and use them 
well in our cause." 

In a letter dated June 2, 1862, to General Burnside, I 
wrote : 

" Lieut. -Commander Flusser is exceedingly anxious to 
put arms in the hands of the Union citizens of Washington 



County. He says he can raise 350 men in a very short time. 
I shall go to Plymouth on Wednesday and see for myself, and 
if I think there are competent leaders who can be trusted, 1 
will supply them with arms and ammunition, unless you 
should otherwise order." 

Previous to this communication I had had several con- 
versations with General Burnside in relation to this matter; 
and the final result was that he placed the details of forming 
a North Carolina Union regiment in my hands, and gave me 
full power to do whatever I might deem best for the interests 
of the service. 

Word was sent to Commander Flusser to notify the 
Union citizens to be present at Plymouth a certain day, when 
Commodore Rowan and myself would meet them for the 
purpose of ascertaining the extent of existing Union sentiment, 
and to see to what use, if any, this sentiment might be put 
for the public service. And accordingly, upon the day fixed, 
we met some two hundred and fifty Union men, and a free 
interchange of views in relation to the affairs of the country 
took place ; patriotic addresses were made by Commodore 
Rowan and myself, eliciting the most hearty approval from 
nearly all present. 

Many questions were asked and answered; but there 
was evidently one matter of great concern with them. The 
anxiety of these loyal North Carolinians seemed to hinge upon 
one point, and that was, ' ' What will become of us in case we 
are captured by the rebels ? " We assured them that the Govern- 



ment of the United States would protect them and their families to 
the last extreme ; and that the Southern men who placed themselves 
under the protection of the flag ivould, by fighting in the ranks of 
our army and upholding the authority of the couuiry, be looked upon 
as special wards of the Government j and that any outrage perpe- 
trated upofi them, or upon their families would be severely ptmished. 
This, to them the all-important point, being settled to their 
satisfaction, they expressed their willingness to become sol- 
diers in the ranks of the Union army. An enlistment roll was 
accordingly made out, and about one hundred men signed their 
names at once for service in the army of their country. 
Others returned to their homes to confer with their families 
and embrace them, perhaps for the last time, and with re- 
newed confidence they returned to join their companions in 
arms. 

To me this was one of the most solemn and interesting 
occasions I had thus far witnessed in the public service. The 
confiding simplicity and earnestness of these humble, unedu- 
cated people, made a deep impression upon me. Patriotism 
in the North, at that time, was one thing, while loyalty to the 
flag in the South was quite another. In the Free States, every- 
where unless perhaps in New York City, it was an easy matter 
to be loyal and to talk and act in accordance with ideas 
of patriotic devotion to duty ; but in the South, even to 
breathe one word in favor of the old Government, or to do 
a single act which might awaken a suspicion that one was 
not committed body and soul for the success of the rebel 
cause, might bring the infliction of every kind of fiendish 



insult and outrage, from which neither age nor sex was ever 
spared. Yet these "poor whites," as they were called by the 
planters, living in the swamps of North Carolina, oppressed, 
unprotected, braved all; exhibiting the highest order of cour- 
age, patriotism and devotion to the cause of their country ; 
remaining true in the midst of the false, and faithful when all 
around were faithless. 

Out of the North Carolinians who had thus offered for 
service, the "First North Carolina Volunteers" was 
assembled at Plymouth and placed under the command of 
Captain W. H. Hammill, of my regiment, for instruction 
and discipline. I continued in control of enlistments and 
formation until July lo, 1862, when General Burnside, with 
the Coast Division, of which my command was a part, 
was ordered to join the Army of the Potomac, and I heard 
nothing more of our North Carolinian soldiers until the spring 
of 1864. But during this time it is certain that from the 
beginning, which we have thus described, two regiments of 
loyal North Carolinians, trusting to our word and promise as 
officers of the United States service, had come into existence. 

With these preliminary remarks the reader will clearly 
comprehend the narration of facts which aWto follow. 

On the I St of February, 1864, a large rebel force under 
the command of Major General G. E. Pickett, a native of 
Virginia and a graduate of West Point, made an advance 
upon Newbern, N. C, and after destroying the gunboat 
Underwriter, burning a bridge or two and capturing a con- 



siderable number of prisoners, they withdrew to the town of 
Kingston, some twenty miles off, where a halt was made and 
General Pickett's headquarters established. It was soon ascer- 
tained by the rebel commander that among the prisoners 
captured, there were several natives of North Carolina, who 
had enlisted in our service. This, in his opinion, was the 
most unpardonable of crimes, and deserving of speedy and 
cruel punishment. Accordingly, a court martial was con- 
vened, which was composed of Virginians, and these un- 
fortunnte North Carolinians, guilty of no other offense than 
loyalty to their Government, were placed upon trial — a per- 
fect mockery of all justice — on the charge of deserting from 
the rebel cause and entering the service of the United 
States. It is needless to say that a large number of them 
were condemned and sentenced to be hung, as will appear 
from the action of the Union General Ruger, commanding the 
district of Eastern North Carolina, who, learning of these out- 
rages, ordered a board of officers " to inquire into and report 
the facts concerning the murder of United States soldiers at 
Kingston, N. C, by the rebels during the winter and spring 
of 1864." This Board, during their several sittings, examined 
some twenty-eight witnesses, and finally rendered a report 
which tells a plain story. In brief, that twenty-two of these 
loyal North Carolinians were convicted of and executed for 
constructive desertion. A few extracts from it will show how 
trials involving the death sentence were wa;/ao-^^ under rebel 
rule. 



13 

Extracts from the Report of the Board. 

General: 

******* 
There was a large number of Union soldiers hung at 
Kingston, N. C, by the rebels during the months of February 
and March, 1864. There is a discrepancy as to the number of 
men executed, but the testimony is substantially as follows, 
viz. : 

"The rebels executed twenty-three or twenty-four 
men, said to have been United States soldiers, at Kingston, 
N. C. Two men were hung first, thirteen next and five 
lastly." [Testimony of Josiah Wood.] Other evidence 
shows that twenty-two United States soldiers have been 
hung; two at first were executed together, afterwards 
thirteen and lastly seven [testimony of W. F. Huggins]. All 
the testimony agrees that there were three separate execu- 
tions; also that the number hung at the first two executions 
were two and thirteen, and, in the opinion of the Board, 
seven is the number of those who were the victims of the 
last execution, which gives a total of twenty-two. 

The first of these executions took place between the 
ist and 15th of February, 1864; the second, the 15th of Feb- 
ruary, 1864; and the last one in the month of March, 1864. 
******* 
The following list of names includes all the enlisted 
men of the Second North Carolina Volunteers believed to 
have been hung by the rebels, viz. : W. D. Haddock, William 



14 

Jones, William H. Dougherty, John I. Brock, John Freeman, 
Mitchell Busick, Wm. L. Bryan, Wm. Irvine, Wm. I. Hill, 
Lewis Taylor, Calvin I. Haigman, Jesse L. Lummerlin, Joseph 
Brock, Andrew I. Britton, Stephen Jones, Elijah Kellum, John 
Stanley, Lewis Freeman, Amos Aymlett, David Jones, Charles 
Cotterell and Joseph Hackett. 

* * * ?v * * * 

After the capture of these men at Beechgrove, N. C, 
they were confined in the Court House at Kingston until they 
were removed to the dungeon of the old jail, where they 
remained until they were executed under the most cruel and 
debasing treatment, and were rescued from starvation only by 
their friends supplying them with food. Nor did the out- 
rages perpetrated upon the victims of this wholesale slaughter 
cease with cruel treatment or death itself Their dead bodies 
were stripped of their clothing almost or quite to a state of 
nudity, to be contemptuously left for their relatives to gather 
up and inter, delivered to experimenting surgery like common 
felons, or scooped into a common grave at the foot of the 
gallows, while their families were insulted, robbed of their 
property and left to depend upon the charity of friends (while 
those who defended them were themselves in danger), or to 
suffer for mere subsistence. 

The testimony of J. H. Nethercutt proves conclusively 
that these men belonged to the local North Carolina service, 
and that they never had been Confederate soldiers; therefore, 
in the opinion of the Board, a Confederate States court mar- 
tial had no jurisdiction over them; and, further, the court 



15 

martial virtually acknowledged its incapacity in the case of 
Clinton Cox, who was arraigned upon the same charge, but 
who, it appears, was saved from the fate of the others by the 
testimony of Capt. G. W. Cox (of a local N. C. company), 
which was to the effect that Clinton Cox had belonged to his 
company, but that he had not deserted, because he did not 
consider leaving a local company to be desertion from the 
Confederate service. Witnesses and counsel were denied to 
the other men, and they were hung; while their cases were 
parallel or as aggravated. It is the opinion of the Board that 
further investigation would prove that Elijah Kellum never 
had been in the local or Confederate service, but that he was 
fraudulently reported as conscripted by a Captain Wilson of 
Jones Co., N. C, enrolling officer in the rebel service. 
* * * * * * * 

The rebel General Pickett was in command of the De- 
partment of Eastern North Carolina, and approved the sen- 
tence of death passed by the court martial and ordered the 
execution of these United States soldiers; Gen. Hoke in 
command at Kingston, N. C, was charged with the execu- 
tion, aided by Pickett's Provost Guard and several volunteer 
hangmen, one of whom was known as Blunt King of Gold- 
borough, N. C. The person who hung the thirteen is known 
as a tall dark-complexioned man with a cross or squint eye — 
a resident of Raleigh; his name the Board has been unable 
to learn. The proof of the unparalled barbarities of the 
last two men above mentioned is very positive and abundant. 

The object of this sacrifice of human life, perpetrated 



i6 

by rebel officers, was, in the opinion of the Board, to terrify 
the loyal people of North Carolina; to make them subservient 
to the scheme of rebellion, and to bring contempt upon the 
Government its victims represented. The way the bodies of 
these murdered men were treated; the contempt shown to the 
persons and property of the widows; also the contemptuous 
language with reference to the uniform of the United States 
used by Gen. R. F. Hoke in appealing to the pride and sensi- 
bilities of Bryan McCullum, is sufficient evidence that they 
were determined to take the lives of these men for the pur- 
pose of intimidation, which is further evident from the fact 
that they were refused either counsel or the taking of testi- 
mony favorable to them. It appears that those who volun- 
teered to put these men to death were actuated by a spirit of 
fiendish thirst for blood. Those directly implicated in the 
execution were, viz. : 

"The court martial, of which the Board are unable to 
learn the names of the members; the rebel General Pickett, 
who ordered the execution; the rebel General R. F. Hoke, 
who performed the execution; Colonel Boker, who robbed 
and persecuted their widows; Blunt King and another volun- 
teer hangman unknown. * * * 

"It is the opinion of the Board that these men have 
violated the rules of war and every principle of humanity, 
and are guilty of crime too heinous to be excused by the 
Government of the United States; and therefore there should 
be a Military Commission immediately appointed for the trial 
of these men and to inflict upon the perpetrators of such 



17 

crimes their just punishment. 

m ^tf 'fit 4f 

(Signed) W. H. Doherty, Capt. and A. CL M., 

President of the Board. 
Burton S. Mills, Capt. 14th U. S. C. A. (Heavy). 
Jonathan Hopkins, 2d Lieut. U. S. C. A. (Heavy), 
Recorder to Brevet Major-Gen. Ruger, 

Raleigh, N. C. 

Brief extracts from the testimony of some of the wit- 
nesses will throw additional light upon some of the facts and 
conclusions set forth in the report. The widow of Jesse 
Summerlin, one of the victims, testifies: — 

"That she was only allowed to see her husband in his 
dungeon the day before his murder and a short time before 
he went to the scaffold. When the dead body of her hus- 
band was handed over to her by the Sheriff, it had been 
stripped of all but pantaloons. She carried it home, got a 
coffin, and buried it. Some time after, Colonel Baker, of the 
rebel army, visited her house, took away her horse, all her 
provisions, and left her with five children in destitute circum- 
stances." 

The widow of William Jones "saw her husband in 
jail the evening before he was hung; could not take his body 
home for want of a conveyance. At first the Union men 
were afraid to help her, and the rebels cursed her; said 'it 
was too good for him.' She sent her boy of 15 and her 
nephew of 17 years to bring home the body. They searched 



1 8 

for a long time, and at last found it in an old loft in charge of 
a sergeant and guard, who at first refused to give it up, but 
at last the surgeon gave it to them. It was stripped of all 
covering except socks; this was a week after the execution. 
The son took the body home and buried it. She was obliged 
to walk five miles; has five children and no home." 

The widow of John Brock "saw her husband one 
week before he was executed; he was confined in the dun- 
geon of the jail; he told me he only got one cracker a day, 
and all the other prisoners said they only got one cracker a 
day each. She fed her husband and the others, or they would 
have starved. Her husband's body, when delivered to her, 
had been stripped of the most of its clothes." 

J. H. Nethercutt testified: "these men were members of 
my local battalion and were consolidated into the 66th N. C. 
rebel troops. These men who were in this command never 
consented to the change, were greatly dissatisfied with it, 
never appeared at the muster of said regiment, never an- 
swered to their names, nor were in any way active members. 
The men complained that they were unfairly dealt with. 
Witness believes that these men were not in sy?npathy with the 
rebellion, and wanted to get away from the rebel ranks, using 
the change of service as a pretext; witness asked Hoke to 
reprieve these men; Hoke said he had orders to hang them 
and he would do so." 

Mr. Wm. F. Huggins "knew Elijah Kellum, a man of 
deformed body and broken constitution. I knew he never 
was received in any rebel regiment, a?id believe he never was a 



19 

soldier ; no mustering officer would receive him." 

James B. Wells "was present at the court martial that 
condemned William Haddock. His sister, Mrs. McCullum, 
requested him to accompany her there, as she was trying 
to get a summons for a witness to free her brother." All was 
refused by the court, and neither counsel nor witnesses for the 
prisoners were admitted.''' 

Mr. G. W. Cox "went to the court to bear testi- 
mony in favor of Clinton Cox, v/ho was among the prisoners, 
and had been a member of the bridge guard, and who 
was judged not guilty of desertion, but was detained a prisoner 
by the rebels, a?td died in prison j thinks the court was composed of 
Virginians from Pickett's division. 

Mr. Bryan McCullom " went to see Gen. Hoke be- 
foee the execution, and asked for an order for the body of 
his brother-in-law, in order to bury it. Hoke inquired if he 
wanted to bury him in a Yankee uniform. He replied that he 
did. Hoke then expressed surprise that so respectable a man 
would bury his brother-in-law in a Yankee uniform." 

Several witnesses testify that many of these men went 
inside the Union lines for the double purpose of escaping 
conscription, and of fighting against the detested and cruel 
rebel rule. Civilians testify that they were placed in jail and 
treated in the most cruel manner, because they were suspected 
of entertaining Union sentiments. 

The testimony throughout proves most conclusively 
that the most of these men who were executed had never 



been in the rebel service; that some of them were in State 
organizations for the purpose of doing local guard duty, and 
that they enlisted in these local companies with the distinct 
understanding that they were not to go out of the State. Major J. H. 
Nethercutt, who commanded the battalion in which some of 
these men were enrolled, says that they were consolidated into 
the 66th N. C. rebel troops by order of the rebel Secretary of 
War, without their cofisent. And it was understood that those 
who should not acquiesce in the consolidation were to be 
conscripted as soon as they were mustered out of the State 
service. So there was no way left to escape serving in the 
rebel army, unless they could make their way inside of the 
Union lines. Others had never been in either State or rebel 
military service; consequently had never committed any of- 
fence against the laws of State or rebel government. But 
Pickett acted upon the theory that all men ought to be hung 
or put out of the way who were not in the ranks of the rebel 
army." 

Judge Advocate General Holt, to whom the proceedings 
of the Board were submitted, after a careful review, in a com- 
munication of Dec. 12, 1865, to the Secretary of War, says: 
•'The record furnishes no evidence that the unhappy victims 
of this outrage were not deserters, so far as an abandonment 
of a constrained and hated service would warrant their being 
stigmatized as such; but, on the contrary, the little evidence 
on that point furnished by the record tends to show that they 
were," 

These men, in thus refusing, as every good citizen 



21 

should, to aid a traitorous cause, could not have had any of 
that ^w///" which constitutes desertion. The word desertion, in a 
military sense, implies guilt and crime, but assuredly the aban- 
donment of a rebel cause is neither guilt nor crime; but, on 
the contrary, it is a merit and virtue, and ought to be so held 
and maintained by a just government. Desertion implies that 
the authority from which the desertion takes place has a right 
to the deserters service, which was not the case in the present 
instance. There are thousands of men now living who went 
to Canada from the United States during the rebellion to avoid 
serving in the army, and the government has never, in any 
instance, claimed that these skulkers could be punished as 
deserters. But if caught in the United States after they had 
been drafted, they could have been made to serve their full 
term of service. There can be no desertion unless the deserter 
has been regularly mustered into some branch of the service 
before the act of desertion takes place. 

Upon the recommendation of Genl. Holt the Board 
was required to make a "further and more minute investiga- 
tion," which they did, and succeeded in bringing to light 
many more very important facts. Among the witnesses ex- 
amined was ex-Governor Z. B. Vance, of N. C, who testified 
that— 

"These troops were raised for local defence. I am 
inclined to think the Confederate Government did not keep 
faith with these local troops, who were found to be of little 
benefit to the service. 



"I know Col. Farrabee, who raised a command for 
local service on the Chowan River, was forced into the 
regular service by the Confederate Government." 

"1 did, at various times, make appeals to the Con- 
federate authorities in behalf of the men of this State. These 
men were enlisted entirely for local defense, and every effort was 
made to transfer these organizations into the regular service 
of the Confederacy when they were found to be worthless^ 

"I myself favored transfer to the regular service where 
it could be done without violation of good faith; but in these 
instances of Nethercutt's battalion it was a violation of their 
enlistment agree me nt.'' 

Drury Lacy, adjutant to one of the brigades in Hoke's 
division, testifies that ' ' they deserted before the consolidation ; 
when they were executed \\\t consolidation had taken place," 

Judge Battel, of the N. C. Supreme Court, testifies that 
"several men from Lenoir and other localities came before 
me, claiming that they had volunteered for 'local service,' 
and had been taken off into the regular Confederate service by 
General Hill. It was not pretended that they had been con- 
scripted under a conscription law. These petitioners in every 
instance, some twenty or thirty, I discharged on habeas corpus^ 
on the ground that they 7iiere subject to duty only for local defence ; 
for bridge guards and other local organizations in which they 
had volunteered under the Confederate Act of Congress, This 
was in the summer andfiill of 1863. I thought it a great out- 
rage for General Hill to take them off." 



23 

John B. Nethery, Assistant Adjutant-General in the office 
of the Adjutant-General of the State at Raleigh, testifies that 
he was at Kingston a few days after the execution in April, 
and recollects that the people expressed great regret at the 
execution, feeling that it was for a small offence. When they 
were found to be of little use, an order was issued for their 
transfer to the 66th Regiment. The order was considered a 
violation of the terms of their enlistment, and opposed by the 
men. The men were given their choice of going into the 
66th Regiment or being mustered out and conscripted, which 
amounted to the same thing— whipping the devil around the 
stump. It was understood by the Confederate authorities as 
their organized enlistment ; it was considered merely a change 
of position on paper, as they would have been sent to the 
regiment all the same under the Confederate conscription. 
I think there was some objection by the State authorities. 
The dissatisfaction of the State authorities was evinced by 
protest. The legality of the order transferring them was 
declared (by Judge Battel) null and void. Some were discharged 
under writs of habeas corpus ; some were dragooned into the 
service, and others succeeded in effecting their escape to the 
woods. My impression is that they were not allowed to 
return to their homes. The pressure was for men, and they 
were compelled to go into the 66th or be discharged and con- 
scripted on the spot into the regiment. The whole thing was 
on paper, and ultimately meant service in the 66th anyivay. 

Lieutenant-Colonel S. McD. Tate, of the 6th N. C. 
rebel regiment, testifies to "seventy odd executions at Kings- 



24 

ton," and says: "Well, it was a sort of general hanging 
down there. There were so many executions that I was 
considerably worried at having to take my men over so often, 
as there was such deep sand. At one time I think there were 
a dozen hung. My impression is that these men were executed 
in the presence of Hoke's Brigade, as an examj>/e to such as 
might be weak-kneed amon;^ the North Carolina soldiers." 

QjLiestion: How many of these executions did you 
attend } 

Answer: "Three or more. They began and increased 
until they got to be frightful. I think there were twenty odd 
hung the first time, but I am not positive to more than twelve, 
as I wish to be particular. In our service we shot men for 
desertion; but for desertion to the enemy, which was a 
higher offence, we hung them, and 1 think that is why these 
men were hung." 

John Hughes, Qjuartermaster of General Hoke's Brigade, 
says: "1 think the court was composed of Virginians; no 
North Carolinians or Georgians." 

The rebel commander, no doubt, knew how well these 
"Virginia gentlemen" would do their whole duty, and the 
court was selected with special reference to devotion on the 
part of its members to the interests of the rebel cause. 

But not the least interesting of the developments 
brought to light are those illustrating the inhumanity and 
savage brutality of General Pickett, who seems to have been 
a most willing tool in the hands of the rebel leaders. 



25 

Blunt King, a private in the loth N. C. rebel troops, 
testifies that he "heard a lieutenant say that they belonged 
to his company." General Pickett then walked up to the 
prisoners and said: "What are you doing here?" They 
answered something which 1 did not hear. General Pickett 
then said: "God damn you. 1 reckon you'll hardly go back 
there again. You damned rascals, I'll have you shot, and all 
the other damned rascals who desert." When I was sitting 
on a log at the door, after the prisoners had been taken away, 
General Pickett said: "We'll have a court martial on these 
fellows pretty soon, and after some are shot, the rest will 
stop deserting." I heard General Pickett say when within 
four miles of Newbern, when we went down on the march, 
"that every God-damned man who did not do his duty, or 
deserted, ought to be shot or hung." 

General John J. Peck, then in command of the district 
of North Carolina, as soon as he ascertained that some of our 
loyal N. C. troops had been captured and fallen into the hands 
of the rebel commander, forwarded to General Pickett a copy 
of the President's order of July 20, 1865, in which it is " or- 
dered that for every soldier of the United States killed in 
violation of the laws of war, a rebel soldier shall be executed, " 
and at the same time protested against our captured soldiers 
of the North Carolina regiments being treated otherwise than 
as prisoners of war, and furnished a list of loyal North Caro- 
linians then supposed to be in his hands, captured during the 
attack upon Newbern, 



26 

In another communication to the same officer, General 
Peck stated that he refrained from executing a rebel soldier 
until he should learn definitely what action had been taken by 
General Pickett. In answer to these several communications 
the rebel General wrote four letters, all of them showing be- 
yond a doubt that he was not animated by a sad sense of duty 
alone, but that he was criminally forward in taking human 
life, and was thus aiming at the reputation of a worthy officer 
in a rebel cause. 

The people of the slave States have always claimed that 
their special sort of civilization is far superior to that of the 
free States; and the natives of Virginia, with its great abun- 
dance of "First Families," assert that they, of all the South, 
are the keystone of the noble Southern arch, which all who 
know must admit is unique among the structures known to 
the history of the social compact. It must be borne in mind 
that these letters were written by an officer of high rank in 
the rebel army, a brave soldier who was a scion of the better 
Virginia stock, and a typical Southern gentleman. The read- 
ing of them ought to convince the most tender-hearted, 
among the loyal people of the North, that at least one among 
our "erring brothers" who wanted to "depart in peace" 
ought not to be deprived of that punishment which his crimes 
so richly deserve ; not if every general in our army should 
recommend it. 

We give extracts from several of Pickett's letters, show- 
ing the malignity of his disposition in the execution of these 
men. 



27 

" HEADauARTERS, Department of N. C, 

Petersburg, Va., February 17, 1864. 

General: 

******* 

To your threat expressed in the following extract from 
your communication, viz.: "Believing that this atrocity has 
been perpetrated without your knowledge, and that you will 
take prompt steps to disavow the violation of the usages of 
war, and to bring the offenders to justice, I shall refrain from 
executing a rebel soldier until I learn your action in the 
premises." 

" I have merely to say that I have in my hands, subject 
to my orders, captured in recent operations in this depart- 
ment, some four hundred and fifty officers and men of the 
United States Army, and for every man you hang / will hang 
ten of the United States Army." 

G. E. Pickett, 
Maj.-Gen, Commanding. 
To Maj.-Gen. John J. Peck, 

U. S. Army, commanding at Newbern. 

Headquarters, Department of N. C., 

Petersburg, Va., Feb'y 17, 1864. 
General: 

Your communication of the 13th inst. is in hand. I 
have the honor to state that you have made a slight mistake 
in regard to numbers; three hundred and twenty-five having 
"fallen into (our) your hands in (our) late hasty retreat from 
Newbern," instead of the list of fifty-three which you have 



28 

so kindly furnished me, and which will enable me to bring to 
justice many who have up to this time escaped their just deserts. 

I herewith return you the names of those who have 
been tried and convicted by court martial for desertion from 
the Confederate service, and taken with arms in their hands, 
" duly enlisted in the Second N. C. Infantry, United States 
Army." They have been duly executed according to the law 
and custom of war. 

Your letter willy of course, prevent any mercy being shown 
any of the remaining number, should proper and just proof be 
brought of their having deserted the Confederate colors. 

Many of these plead in extenuation that they have been 
forced into the ranks of the Federal Government (not true). 
Extending you my thanks for your opportune list, 
\ remain, very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

G. E. Pickett, 
Maj.-Gen. Commanding. 
Maj.-Gen. J. J. Peck, 

Commanding U. S. Forces at Newbern, N. C. 

In a letter addressed to Adjt.-Gen, Cooper, of the rebel 
army, dated Feb'y 26, 1864, this humane Major-General says: 

"I hope the whole of the prisoners captured in this 
department will be held at my disposal." 

This request, if complied with, would have enabled 
him to make good his threat of hanging "ten for one." 

Let the reader mark with what fiendish gusto this 



29 

willing butcher in the inhuman cause of slavery, this pre- 
tended vindicator of the lav/s of warfare, contemplates a real 
feast of cold-blooded murder! How sincerely he thanks 
General Peck for his "opportune list"! How superfluous 
the remark, "Your letter will, of course, prevent any mercy 
being shown any of the remaining number," as though any 
one acquainted with the rebel way of doing business could 
for one moment suppose that mercy would be shown to any 
one, once fairly in their clutches, who had been guilty of the 
crime of loyalty to the Union cause. If any there be who 
doubt the truth of this assertion, let them visit the thirty-five 
thousand graves around the prison pens of the Union soldiers, 
situated in the rebel States! 

in March, 1864, the Board of Officers made a further 
report, setting forth clearly and conclusively many important 
facts tending to fix the guilt of these unwarrantable executions 
upon General Pickett. They find the facts in relation to the 
local service of these alleged deserters to be as follows : 

"Aside from these two classes of troops, the so-called 
Confederate Congress passed an act of August 21, 1861, "To 
provide for local defence and special service," whereby certain 
volunteer forces were organized for specific purposes, with 
certain privileges. Their muster rolls specified that they 
were raised under this act, setting forth distinctly the services 
to be performed. They were not considered as being in 
actual service for the purpose of receiving pay and subsistence, 
except when called out by the rebel President. They were 



30 

not to be called out until a necessity arose for their services. 
and they were not to be required to go beyond the limits of 
the State to which they belonged. They were expected to 
serve when called out only so long as the emergency existed, 
and then to return to their ordinary pursuits again." 

The inference is correct that the men who composed 
ti\ese local companies or battalions of guards were only in the 
service of the rebel States when assembled together and 
ordered to duty by the rebel President; and so soon as the 
special service had been performed, they could retire to their 
homes, and, if they saw fit, go inside the Union lines or any- 
where else. So lo7ig as they were not in actual service they could 
not be considered deserters. But General Pickett had no scruples 
in that direction. 

The two last paragraphs of this report set forth the 
most important of all the conclusions of the Board. 

"The evidence tends towards showing that the court 
martial before which they were brought was a general court 
martial ordered by General Pickett, composed principally of 
Virginians, although there seems to have been more than one 
court in session at the same time." 

While other prominent rebels seemed to have been 
concerned in these shameful transactions as accessories, the 
evidence clearly shows that General Pickett was the prom- 
inent authority under whose direction everything connected 
with the murder of our soldiers took place ; and the Board are 
therefore unable, from the evidence they have been able to 



31 

collect, to fix the guilt upon any subordinate in such a 
manner as to contain grounds sufficient for preferring personal 
charges. 

All of which is respectfully submitted. 

Judge- Advocate Holt seems to have changed his mind 
since his first communication to the Secretary of War, for in 
another letter to the same officer, after reading the further ' 
evidence, speaking of General Pickett, he says: 

"Not only does the imperious and vaunting temper in 
which these letters are written indicate his readiness to com- 
mit this or any kindred atrocity, but his boastful admissions 
that he was in command at the time, and that twenty-two 
men had been executed, and his threat that he would retaliate 
in proportion of ten to one by executions among the 450 
officers and men whom, he says, * I have in my hands, and 
subject to my order,' all tend to show that he was in respon- 
sible command, and furnish evidence upon which it is believed 
charges can be sustained against him." 

" It is therefore recommended * * * * that charges 
be preferred against the said G. E. Pickett, and such other 
persons as may be shown to have been in complicity with 
him in these murders, and their trial ordered. As a prelim- 
inary step, it is suggested that Pickett be at once arrested and 
held to await it, upon the evidence furnished in his corres- 
pondence adverted to, which is deemed abundantly sufficient 
to warrant such arrest." 



32 

J. Holt, 
Judge-Advocate-Genl. 
To the Secretary of War. 

Captain W. H. Doherty, one of the members of the 
first Board of Investigation, in a letter to Judge-Advocate- 
General Holt, says: 

"I assure you that it would strengthen the hands of 
the Government immensly, could this bad and cruel man be 
brought to condign punishment, and our poor, murdered 
soldiers be avenged." * * * "I thus venture to trouble 
you, because I know you share my feelings of indignation at 
this horrid crime, and I know that a lasting disgrace will 
attach to the United States Government if it is permitted to 
pass unpunished. The poor whites of the South will lose 
confidence in the federal power if thus forsaken and their 
murdered friends unavenged." 

And again this officer, in a communication to the Sec- 
retary of War, urges that — _ 

"The authors of this inhuman murder shall be brought 
to trial. * * * Thus only can the honor of the Govern- 
ment be vindicated, and the cruel enemies of the Union 
punished, and the friends of the federal authority sustained 
and encouraged in these Southern States." 

Here we have the opinion of an intelligent and earnest 
officer who served through the rebellion, and has resided in 
the vicinity where these outrages occurred. 

Soon after these communications were received General 



33 

Holt again urged upon the Secretary of War the importance 
and necessity of having General Pickett arrested and brought 
to trial. 

In a communication under date of Dec. lo, 1864, to 
the President, the Secretary of War gives his reasons why he 
has not followed the course suggested by General Holt, which 
are set forth in the closing paragraph of his communication, 
and are as follows, viz.: "Taking into consideration the 
action of the Supreme Court of the United States in the case 
of Milligan and others, who had been tried and convicted by 
a military commission, and the doubts cast upon the jurisdic- 
tion of such tribunals, the Secretary of War has not felt 
authorized to pursue the course recommended by the Judge- 
Advocate-General until the opinion of the Supreme Court 
should be formally promulgated The magnitude of the 
offence alleged against Pickett is such that there should be no 
reason to contest the jurisdiction of the tribunal to whom his 
trial may be committed." 

A more perfect and complete case of atrocious guilt 
was never proved in any court of law than is here made out 
against this great criminal. Testimony is multiplied to such 
an extent that the most common understanding cannot fail to 
identify the monster who ordered this Dahomean feast of 
murder, fit only to disgrace the pages of barbarian history, 
it would seem bad enough that this man should escape jus- 
tice; but now comes his application for pardon, with the 
much-abused oath of allegiance, all in due form, presented in 



34 

the coolest possible manner, with the humiliating indorse- 
ment of the highest officer in our army, urging that the 
pardon asked for shall be granted. 

For the more perfect elucidation of this case, and in 
order that the reader may see how the highest functionaries 
of his country are stooping from their lofty position of vindi- 
cating authority to the degrading condition of compounding 
with treason and taking from the basest of crimes its legiti- 
mate sting — eradicating from the public mind all idea of the 
possibility of crime against a free government, we give this 
Pickett's application for pardon; the endorsement upon it by 
our Secretary of War; Pickett's pathetic appeal to General 
Grant, and finally General Grant's favorable endorsement 
upon the appeal. 

Pickett's Application for Pardon. 

Richmond, Va., June i. i86t. 
Sir: 

I have the honor to state that your amnesty proclama- 
tion of the 29th day of May, 1865, has just been read. I find 
myself among the classes of persons excepted from the benefits 
of the proclamation under exceptions third, fifth and eighth. 
Having held the rank of major-general in the Confederate 
States Army, resigning my position as captain United States 
Army, and being a graduate of West Point, I write, making 
a special application. 

At the commencement of our domestic troubles 1 was 



stationed on the disputed island, San Juan, occupying it con- 
jointly with the British forces, and did not leave till my 
resignation had been sent in, and I properly relieved by the 
commanding officer of the Department of the Pacific, and 
leave granted me to proceed to my home, and then only 
through the conscientious duty (as I conceived) to my mother 
State — Virginia. Had she not have seceded, /should not have 
been in the Confederate army, as no one was more attached 
to the old service, nor ever stood by, and fought for it with 
more fidelity, nor could any one have been sadder and more 
loth to leave it than I, who from my youth had been so 
devoted to it; and 1 now am, and have been since the sur- 
render of General Lee (to whose army I belonged), willing 
and ready to renew my allegiance as a loyal citizen to the 
United States Government, and have advised and counselled 
all men belonging to my division to return to their homes and 
the peaceful pursuits of life; to take the oath of allegiance, and 
observe with scrupulous truth its stipulations, and to faith- 
fully obey the laws of their country. My wish as expressed 
is a sincere one, and this communication addressed with the 
hope that the liberality spoken of in the amnesty proclamation 
may be extended to cover my case. 

I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

G. E. Pickett, 

Major-General C. S, Army. 



36 

Office of Provost Marshall, 

Richmond, Va., June i6, 1865. 
1, G. E. Pickett, of Nansemond Co., Virginia, do 
solemnly swear or affirm in presence of Almighty God, that I 
will henceforth faithfully support and defend the Constitution 
of the United States, and the union of the States thereunder; 
and that 1 will, in like manner, abide by and faithfully support 
all laws and proclamations which have been made during the 
existing rebellion with reference to the emancipation of slaves, 
so help me God. 

G. E. Pickett, 
Major-General C. S. Army. 

Endorsement of Stanton. 

G. E. Pickett, Va. — Rebellion. 

Ex-U. S. a. — Filed June 19, 1865. 

The Secretary of War reports that Genl. Pickett stands 

charged with the unlawful hanging of twenty-two citizens of 

North Carolina, and the case is now under investigation in 

North Carolina. 

Edwin M. Stanton. 

Pickett's Appeal to Grant. 

Washington, D, C, March 12, 1866. 
General: 

1 have the honor to state that shortly after the sur- 
render of the Confederate forces under command of Gen. R. E. 
Lee to Gen. U. S. Grant, Commander-in-Chief United States 
Army, in the past year, being at the time paroled by the last- 



37 

named officer, I made a communication to his Excellency the 
President of the United States, asking for his elemency. 

The papers in the case were presented by ex-Senator 
O. H. Browning, of Illinois, for the consideration of the 
Executive. 

They consisted of the application above referred to, the 
required oath, a recommendation from Gov. Pierpoint, of 
Virginia, and certain statements from officers of the Confede- 
rate service — members of a general court-marshal — in reference 
to the execution of a number of deserters from said service 
while I was in command of the Department of North Carolina, 
in 1863. 

My object now, General, in presenting this paper, is 
to ask your favorable consideration of my case, and that you 
will, if you believe in my sincerity, for which I have pledged 
you my honor as an officer and a gentleman, put such an 
indorsement upon it as will obtain from his Excellency the 
President a guarantee that I may be permitted to live un- 
molested in my native State, where I am now trying to make 
a subsistance for my family (much impoverished by the war), 
by tilling the land. 

It has come to my knowledge that certain evil-disposed 
persons are attempting to re-open the troubles of the past, 
and embroil me for the action taken by me while the com- 
manding officer of the Confederate forces in North Carolina. 

I acted simply as the general commanding the De- 
partment. 



38 

Certain men, deserters from a North Carolina regiment, 
were taken with arms in their hands fighting against the 
colors under which they had enlisted. 

Charges were preferred against them, a regularly or- 
ganized court-marshal was assembled, composed of officers 
from North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia, before whom the 
men were tried. The evidence in the cases being perfectly 
unmistakeable, the men being identified by members of their 
old regimental comrades, they were found guilty and con- 
demned to be hung. 

The sentences were approved by me, and they were 
duly executed according to the custom of war in like cases. 
My action was sanctioned by the then Confederate Govern- 
ment. If the time has not arrived for the executive clemency 
to be extended to my case (and which point I am not now 
pressing), I merely wish some assurance that I will not be 
disturbed in my endeavors to keep my family from starvation, 
and that my parole, which was given in good faith, may 
protect me from the assaults of those persons desirous of still 
keeping up the war which has ended, in my humble opinion, 
forever. 

Appealing to you as a soldier, and feeling confident 

you will appreciate my position, I sign myself, which much 

esteem, 

Your obedient servant, 

George E. Pickett. 
Lieut. -Gen. U. S. Grant, 

Commanding Armies United States, Washington, D. C. 



39 

Indorsement by General Grant, 

"Respectfully forwarded to his Excellency the Presi- 
dent of the United States, with the recommendation that 
clemency be extended in this case, or assurances given that 
no trial will take place for the offences charged against G. E. 
Pickett. 

During the rebellion, belligerent rights were acknowl- 
edged to the enemies of our country, and it is clear to me 
that the parole given by the armies laying down their arms 
protects them against punishment for acts lawful for any 
other belligerent. In this case I know that it is claimed that 
the men tried and convicted for the crime of desertion were 
Union men from North CaroHna, who had found refuge within 
our lines and in our service. The punishment was a harsh 
one, but it was in time of war, and when the enemy, no 
doubt, felt it necessary to retain by some power the services 
of every man within their reach. Gen, Pickett I know personally 
to be an honorable man, but in this case his judgment prompted him 
to do what cannot well be susiaitied, though I do not see how good, 
either to the friends of the deceased, or by fixing an example for the 
future, can be secured by his trial now. It would only open up 
the question whether or not the Government did not disregard 
its contract entered into to secure the surrender of an armed 

enemy." 

U. S. Grant, 

Lieut. -General. 
March i6, 1866. 



40 

Let the reader who has once gloried in the best and 
proudest title of General Grant — in his title of "Uncondi- 
tional Surrender Grant" — observe with what solicitude he 
now urges that assurances should be given this rebel Pickett 
that he shall not be disturbed. Let the reader note this, and 
then think of that rebel "dead line," established by such as 
Pickett, to which, if the prisoner approached too near with 
rotting feet and idiotic brain, to reach, perhaps, the garbage 
beyond for which he was famishing, he was shot dead, and 
often considered it a mercy even so to die. The inhuman and 
atrocious severities practiced upon Union soldiers, when made 
prisoners, placed the rebel leaders beyond the pale of Christian 
warfare, and yet this honorable traitor claims the exercise of 
the laws of war in his own case, while he refused it to others. 
General Grant claims to have made a "contract" with these 
traitors, rebels and assailants of free government, to procure 
the protection of the guilty parties; that is, the rebel leaders, 
in order to secure their surrender to our arms; and, as a con- 
dition, he consents to give up, abandon, sacrifice twenty-two 
of those humbler servitors of our cause, by whose generous 
efforts he has been raised to the position which he now holds, 
and the country has thus far been sustained against its foes! 
What government can ever thus abandon its defenders to its 
foes and have the respect of its subjects or of mankind? 
What would be more humiliating to a people than to think 
that it owes its peace to the craven sacrifice of its defenders — 
yes, and not only of its defenders, but of the principles of 
justice, and even of mercy itself.? 



41 

And what, let it be asked, have we gained by this 
disgraceful abandonment of our friends ? Who, in truth, can 
give a satisfactory answer to this pertinent living question? 

There are, probably, but a small proportion of the 
intelligent people of the world who believe that truth is 
stranger than fiction; and yet fiction, to a considerable 
degree, is only the startling incidents of all ages brought 
together, and woven into romances and tales written ta 
amuse. 

Those who live a hundred years hence will, if the 
history of our country for the last six years is truly written, 
believe that this was the great age of fiction, and that our 
rebellious citizens, and many of their acts, were not realities. 
A few years ago they would have been thought impossible 
beings, but it was left for the great war of the nineteenth 
century to tear the mask from slavery, and expose the monster 
in all its horrible aspects. The scarred, bleeding and naked 
forms of its victims have been laid before us, and the sword 
of vengeance fallen not only on those who have sinned most, 
but also on those who have permitted a long series of un- 
speakable atrocities to tarnish the history of our so-called 
civilization. 

History is full of wonderful truths, many of them far 
too sublime for the common understandiug to comprehend, 
and others far too inhuman for the cultivated and good to 
believe. To the latter class belongs the history of the cruel 
and bloodthirsty slaveholders' rebellion, and the future his- 



42 

torian, if he tells one-half of the whole truth, will be doubted 
by many, and condemned by others, as the relator of imaginary 
horrors. 

How many are there among us now who can believe 
that a human being with a fair share of natural gifts, highly 
educated at an institution under the care of a paternal and 
enlightened Government, could, in these times, take pleasure 
in ordering twenty-two human beings to an ignominious 
death! We search in vain, through the whole length of the 
sickening narration, for the evidence of one touch of humanity 
on the part of those who were chiefly instrumental in bring- 
ing about this unspeakable horror. But, on the contrary, the 
chief criminal acted like an insatiable fiend, and those who 
were under his orders seemed most eager to do their master's 
bidding. 

And now comes the injured innocent, unconscious of 
having done any wrong, and asks for pardon; and when he 
is informed that some meddlesome persons question the pro- 
priety of granting him Executive absolution, and restoring 
him again to full communion in the union which he tried so 
long to destroy, he complains to the general of all our armies 
that: "// has come to my knoivledge that certain EVIL-DIS- 
POSED persons are attempting to re-open the troubles of the past^ 
and embroil me for action taken by me while commanding officer of 
the Confederate forces in North Carolina. " Was there ever 
anything more delightfully cool ? And with what innocent 
amiability he arrays his suffering family to public view, in an 



43 

afTecting tableau attitude, asking for that mercy which he and 
the usurped authority which he served so recklessly and 
inhumanly withheld from thousands of famishing and rotting 
Union soldiers! And were the families of those North Caro- 
line soldiers of no account ? 

Not less remarkable than the letter itself is the indorse- 
ment of Generel Grant upon the back of it. Let us imagine 
Benedict Arnold at the end of the revolution asking pardon 
and writing a similar personal letter to General Washington. 
How would this language appear, coming from him in an- 
swer to the application : 

"General Arnold 1 know personally to be an 
honorable man, but in this case his judgment prompted 
him to do what cannot well be sustained, though 1 do 
not see how good, by fixing an example for the future, 
can be secured by his trial now." 

A Strange model for an "honorable man " I And yet, 
Benedict Arnold was not educated at the expense of the 
Government; he had never caused the murder, in cold blood, 
of twenty-two innocent men ; nor committed one-twentieth 
of the crimes traced to the hands of this man Pickett. Arnold 
was a traitor only. When he lived, treason was treated as an 
infamous crime, and would have been punished as such had he 
been caught. Now it seems to be looked upon by a con- 
siderable number of our higher officials as rather an honorable 
distinction. 

The last two or three lines of the indorsement of Gen- 



44 

eral Grant deserve more than a passing notice. Writing, 
evidently, after careful deliberation, he says: "It would only 
open up the question whether or not the Government did not 
disregard its contract entered into to secure the surrender of 
an armed enemy." What contract did the Government enter 
into when it enlisted those loyal North Carolinians in its 
service ? 

It may well be asked: What was the necessity for 
entering into a "contract" to induce a surrender, practically 
in sight and ready to be made.? It is time that a patient and 
far too lenient nation should understand some of this unmanly 
juggling by which their rights are forfeited. There ought not 
to be but one voice throughout the loyal States in relation to 
the surrender, at Appomatox, of the right to meet out justice 
to rebel leaders. 

All agree in one fact; and that is, that there was not 
the least necessity for a capitulation, or a "contract." If 
General Grant had demanded an unconditional surrender, he 
would have done what the army desired, and were ready to 
enforce, and what the loyal people had a right to expect he 
would do. Many of his friends claim for him that President 
Lincoln gave him instructions as to what terms were to be 
granted to defeated rebels. Others say it was Seward. If 
this be so, it is time that the fact should be known ; for the 
nation is still passing through hours of trial and peril, its 
life rests upon sincerity and truth, and no respect of persons 
should weigh against its safety. Let it be known who it is 



i..of(l 



45 

that has prevented justice being done to criminals who have 
committed crimes and inflicted tortures which would disgrace 
the annals of the darkest deeds of the middle ages. An out- 
raged and patriotic people look to the men whom they have 
placed in positions of power, not to aid and abet in com- 
pounding with criminals, however honorable or high-minded, 
but to see that all the nation's sacrifices have not been made 
in vain, and that those who were the instigators and the 
great moving spirits in the causeless rebellion shall be punished 
as their crimes deserve. They ask "that treason^shall be 
made so odious, and traitors so severely punished," that those 
who have embarked in it once and failed will never again 
dare to undertake such a perilous enterprise as the destruction 
of a nation. 

If we go back a few years more than a century, we 
find English authorities executing three or four hundred of 
the followers of the Pretender, and among them a score of the 
principal nobles of Scotland. Then, if we keep on in our 
investigations of British history, we shall overtake the so- 
called Indian mutinies, where an obliterated people tried to 
regain a whole nationality stolen, and, failing, were blown up 
in their houses and blasted from the mouths of cannon, in 
order that English ideas of justice might be satisfied. A few 
short months ago, British officers gave the world another 
example of justice, and streams of blood poured down the 
sides of the mountains in the island of Jamaica. And now 
there are a reasonable number of Fenians under sentence of 



46 

life-long transportation. It is quite evident that treason — 
unsuccessful rebellion, or revolt of any kind — is treated by 
the English as a crime. And wherein does Republican 
government differ in this respect from any other form of gov- 
ernment; except only in this, that treason against 2i free 
government is more criminal than against any other ? 

Hungary, Poland and other submerged nations have 
often paid the penalties of rebellion. No fact is better settled 
than that traitors and rebels have always been punished. But 
we, in the assumed perfection of our asserted superior civiliza- 
tion, have invented some sort of a maudlin idea about 
wholesale, indiscriminate magnanimity, and high Christian 
forgiveness. Wholly mistaking the spirit of Christian charity, 
we throw down every bar to the progress of licentiousness, 
and deceive ourselves with the fancy that we are practicing 
the Christian virtues. In a wild chase after impracticable 
chimeras, in a course directly opposed to reason and to the 
experience of mankind, which have recognized the necessity 
of punishing crime in all ages, we are giving way to unworthy 
expedients, stratagems and empty demonstrations of all 
kinds, and wholly forgetting that it is Justice that exalteth 
a nation. 



Notice — In its appropriate connection ought to have been mentioned, the 
fact, that Mr. Dawson died without having published any of his rebellion 
material. 

In the second line of the third paragraph page eleven, read is for are. 



^^ 



ASSASSINATION OF 
LOYAL NORTH CAROLINIANS 
R SERVING IN THE 
1 UNION ARMY. 




E 

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LBM»'t)5 



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